Gulliver shared postcards from all over the United States with students from Brazil.  Here is their reaction:

Hi!

• Too much fun today at the first postcards delivery to 10 years old kids from public school in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
• Let me told <tell> you the history of the week. The postcards are a surprise for the end of year (classes finish in november/december here), but last week one of the postcards fall down from my notebook. The girl who would receive it, got this (the alaska one) and now it´s a mystery on the class about where is it form. LOL. Lots of fun!!!! 😀
• The postcard to Camily arrived! Kids are in love with Gulliver.

• At the picture, a girl taking notes about cities and countries the postcards are from.

• Tomorrow, English teacher will translate everything and we will try <to> write something to Gulliver.

Thanks a lot!!

Gulliver is looking forward to setting up exchanges between USA classrooms this spring.  And maybe even visit some classes.

We got your California Flag postcard with your question “what would your personal flag look like?” So we all drew our personal flags and explained what they meant in English. Great activity!! Thank you! More to come

Our students LOVE the postcards. I have students from last year stopping by to see if Gulliver has written. The new classes are really enjoying the connection to geography and our social studies curriculum.

I have a third grade class that would like to join <also>.

Thanks so much for doing this. We would like to make/write postcards in another month or so. I’ll let you know when we are ready.

Cheers,

,

Gulliver’s “mom” was able to go to Salinas classrooms and read to the class and answer questions on Gulliver and his travels around the time of America Reads week last spring.  It was interesting that eight year old children were happy to accept a cat traveling to exotic places, but nine/ten year old children questioned the concept and wanted to know who was actually writing the cards.

At the end of the school year, several classes sent messages to Gulliver. Since the age groups varied, some came in the form of pictures, some real letters and a few wrote short stories in booklet form.  The exchange of postcards between classes was not as popular last year, so this was a good way of having the students use their writing skills. The best part was the creativity of the students – sometimes it is easier to write to a cat than an unknown person.

Gulliver and I continuously thank family, friends and casually met individuals too numerous to name for finding blank postcards and sending them along for use in the project.  I have to confess, there are a few Gulliver hasn’t been willing to let go of, and will probably keep in his private collection and share here occasionally.  I haven’t asked his thoughts on Nessie – the Loch Ness Monster.  It would be almost as difficult to explain such a creature to a 6,7 or 8 year old as the northern lights and what causes them.

One good source of international postcards has been the fine postcard enthusists at http://www.postcrossing.com.  It is a free community of people who exchange postcards – some are random exchanges and others are swaps – I have a map of California I will swap for your card of ….  It is wonderful when people are agreeable with swaping several cards at one time, so Gulliver’s notes to classes can be standardized. Some postcrossers are willing to write directly to a classroom and tell something about their area. Travelers know the value of a local’s knowlege! That is all for this week. Next week, Gulliver wants to share some fan mail.  Purrs to all….

.

From Alaska to Zululand, Gulliver will be travelling quite a bit this year. But it is always important to know where home is, so Gulliver used Duane Meenely’s postcards showing an aerial view of Salinas to kick off the year and introduce himself.   A big thanks to Duane for donating your cards.

As it turned out, one of the teachers was able to provide some quick feedback. “I put the card on the overhead projector and asked the students where they thought this scene could be found” related Mrs. D. “New York?  No, closer. San Diego? warm, but closer. San Francisco?  No, look at the picture. Here is the Salinas Airport, and here is Highway 101.  That is Salinas? But we are a small city!”  The kids were very excited to have a new perspective on where they (and Gulliver) live. Little do they know that Gulliver has discovered where the bobby pin was invented, who drinks bubble tea and what it is made with, and where the necktie originated. Stay tuned.

Purrs,

Gulliver

Gulliver is a cat who loves to travel and share his thoughts from the perspective of a cat.  Gulliver talks about food, festivals, animals, history, geography, science and cultures of people and places around the world. He is usually incognito due to training with the super-secret spy agency, but a general description is that he is an orange and white cat who purrs a lot.  Some postcards come from his family and friends. Current writers include the following, and more may be added.

• Gulliver
• Sir Gulliver of Dorito, his nephew, code name Dorito,
• Circe, his niece, code name Lady Tumbleweed,
• Sasha, his sister (no code name)
• Tristan, his super-secret spy training mentor and trainer.
• and others !

Gulliver’s Mailbox started with a handful of postcards in 2012.  The postcards are roughly organized into categories on this site; there is no series to follow, and each card is stand-alone. Hopefully, in the future a podcast will be available with different voices used to disguise Gulliver’s true identity.

Gulliver can be reached at gulliversmailbox@gmail.com .   Gulliver loves fan mail and comments, so please enjoy.

Gulliver Naps

“The time has come,” the Walrus said,
“To talk of many things:
Of shoes–and ships–and sealing-wax–
Of cabbages–and kings–
And why the sea is boiling hot–
And whether pigs have wings.

Lewis Carroll

So much to talk about! Gulliver apologizes for not posting regularly, he has been busy with his travels and with sending the postcards. Since the first of September, this kitten has been to Yosemite, Pennsylvania, Hawaii, England, Arizona, Sacramento, Sequoia National Park, Japan, Istanbul, Egypt, New Zealand, France, Mr. Rushmore, Japan, Chile, New York, Maine, San Francisco, Andalusia, Ontario, Canada, Mexico, Tibet, on the seven seas, Omaha, Nebraska, China and Indiana.  Please forgive him if he missed sending your class a postcard, he is one very tired cat.  He took a long nap over the winter holidays – who said cats can’t hibernate? And now he is gearing up for 2014.

The New Year will bring exciting cards about Brazil, Japanese food, Chinese New Year and more travel in the USA and abroad. Sadly, we have no postcards of cabbages, or even shoes, but who knows what Gulliver will find in his travels?

Happy New Year!

Purrs, Gulliver